The performers in this movie are a top-notch tap dancer / singer (Gene Kelley), top-notch ballerina (Leslie Caron), awesome pianist (Oscar Levant) and a great singer (Georges Guétary). They will entertain you. This is a top MGM musical.
A few bits of choreography were unbelievable. Gene Kelley setting up breakfast reminded me of a Jackie Chan kung fu episode and i was laughing on the floor. The introduction for Leslie Caron was very cute. Piano Performances by Oscar Levant were great (although one scene was completely gratuitous.) The Duo between Gene Kelley and Oscar Levant was, for me, the high point of the movie.
The movie sinks, however, when considered as a love story. The love story is unconvincing, and its probably because the female lead - partly because of her role, and partly because of her acting, does not convince the audience to fall in love with her. 4 stars here. Better writing and acting could have made this a "9" - much like "Before Sunset".
As a situation comedy it pretty darned funny at times, 6 stars as a comedy. I don't want to give away spoilers but the 4-way love triangle and the resultant situations are worthy of a Lucille Ball episode or better.
The weaknesses of the movie are exposed near the end where there is a low performance to showcase the talent. Apparently the writes and directors realized the story was not going to carry the movie over the top and so they had to do something to compensate for that.
Overall score is 20/30 so i rounded it up to a "7" overall score.
A few bits of choreography were unbelievable. Gene Kelley setting up breakfast reminded me of a Jackie Chan kung fu episode and i was laughing on the floor. The introduction for Leslie Caron was very cute. Piano Performances by Oscar Levant were great (although one scene was completely gratuitous.) The Duo between Gene Kelley and Oscar Levant was, for me, the high point of the movie.
The movie sinks, however, when considered as a love story. The love story is unconvincing, and its probably because the female lead - partly because of her role, and partly because of her acting, does not convince the audience to fall in love with her. 4 stars here. Better writing and acting could have made this a "9" - much like "Before Sunset".
As a situation comedy it pretty darned funny at times, 6 stars as a comedy. I don't want to give away spoilers but the 4-way love triangle and the resultant situations are worthy of a Lucille Ball episode or better.
The weaknesses of the movie are exposed near the end where there is a low performance to showcase the talent. Apparently the writes and directors realized the story was not going to carry the movie over the top and so they had to do something to compensate for that.
Overall score is 20/30 so i rounded it up to a "7" overall score.